"Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else." Season 03 - Episode 10 - Severed Dreams RIP Mira Furlan 2021.
One of the baddest moments ever in Babylon 5's run, delivered by one of my favorite characters. The look on her face said it all; she didn't have to raise her voice. That hint of a snarl was perfect, and yes, it hurts to know Mira is gone now. :(
@Random Platypus with Internet I don't think they would have got back to earth. Probably the debris would be collected from the immediate area and pushed off into the local star?
"Why not? We are already doing rock, paper, scissors, to decide which one of the four ships gets the honor of destroying your entire fleet. The other three are just here to spectate."
No matter how many times this randomly pops in my feed it never disappoints. The whole scene is perfect, but for me it’s the “why not?” That tops it off. Those two words and the disdain she says them with makes it clear how outclassed the earth cruisers are. 😂
Mira was one hell of an actress, that tremor in her voice when she tells them to withdraw, or be destroyed, is gone when she realized the Earth monkeys aren't taking her seriously yet. Quick history lesson, now do you still wanna dance?
I don't care how many times I see this clip, Delenn's delivery still sends chills up my spine. "If you value your lives...BE SOMEWHERE ELSE" *cue Omega Class Destroyers running away*
It's even better when you realise it was a bluff. The mimbari are sworn not to kill humans, as its their greatest sin to kill their own kind, and they believe humans have minbari souls.
Perfect writing...perfect casting...perfect performance....moments like this made the show so memorable...and of course Zathras...everyone forgets Zathras...
As I saw someone state on another video, if you look carefully the Earthforce ships came in using the Jumpgate. After Delenn read them the Riot Act they didn't turn back towards the Jumpgate, but immediately fired up their Jump engines and left via that. They literally could not leave the fight fast enough, figuratively they stampeded towards the nearest exit!!
Because between Delenn's anger and the sight of Minbari battle cruisers ready to throw down, and the reputation of the Minbari of being fearsome warriors once roused? They took the smart way out!
forget stampeding towards the nearest exit, they pulled a cartoon move, and literally ripped a new exit in the walls of reality (that is basically what the jump points and jump engines do).
I met the lovely Mira at a signing in East London at the Who Shop INternational in East Ham, some 26 years ago now I think it was. It was a very hot day and I was on crutches having broken my foot. Mira gave me her seat while she signed a few photos and a book for me, she had a smile that the small screen didn’t do justice to. So sad to hear of her passing 😢
“Helm?” “Yes sir?” “You know that lever marked Space Handbrake we were explicitly warned to never ever touch under pain of a dishonourable discharge and paying for the repairs to the space frame?” ‘Waaaaaay ahead of you sir”
This one, and the scene where Sheridan attempts to shame Kosh into taking action. Even though he knows Kosh could literally snap every bone in his body with a thought. Sheridan doesn't let up for an instant until he gets what he wants.
This is why Delenn is such a great character: She is eminently female, almost exaggeratedly so, yet her grace is accompanied by authority, her gentleness tempering strength and will. She is a strong female character.
Couldn't agree more, Delenn is the perfect example of a strong female character. Feminine in every way and only uses her mind to find answers, never once uses physical violence.
Hollywood doesn't know how to make strong female characters anymore since they can't define what a woman is. We are left with characters like Delenn and we are still satisfied with her!
Seeing Delenn go from a meek apprentice to an independent kick ass was amazing and shows that Hollywood doesn't need to subvert strong male characters into females to have strong female role models (look at Ripley in Aliens) they just need to write then. My favorite scene with Delenn was the one where she stood up to the Grey Council in one take (except the cut to break the staff that wasn't prepped to break easy), showed what a great actor Mira was Rest in Peace Mira you are not forgotten.
nobody needs strong male or female characters, they just need to be strong CHARACTERS who just so happen to be male or female...dont see too much of that anymore...
Love this scene. One of my favorites. It's amazing how quickly they suddenly remembered they had somewhere else to be. Delenn... I mean. She was feminine, philosophical, intellectual, incredibly emotionally intelligent...and a complete badass. Just one hell of a strong character. I wish other writers could nail it like this....or even close to this. The female leads I see these days......they can't hold a candle to this. So well written, so well acted. Love it.
Agree full heartedly, Hollywood has gone lazy & doesn't put the work into making great female characters or even great new content, just rubbish remakes of great films, ok l will give some credit - they do on occasion make great stuff but that seems more to do with the director than the studio.
It still feels like a lot of amazing actors gave their lives for this show. Best sci-fi series ever and the greatest cast of all. I will remember them all fondly until I myself pass beyond the rim.
Yes so many outstanding actors that made the show so great who have sadly left us to the point it is quicker to list the ones remaining than the ones lost. R.I.P. all of them and thanks again for giving us an outstanding show that never gets old.
Like with so many others. Regardless of how often I see this scene, it is just great. Delenn of Mir was such a great character, strong, feminine, innocent, strong, a bit naive, extremely determined, she had her weak points, has to learn and had one of the best character development arcs in the world of science fiction, from a young sometimes hot tempered apprentice of the Minbari saint Dukat to the new Minbari saint herself who strongly wisened up and atoned for her mistake ten years in universe before the series started. This, dear present day Hollywood, is, how to write a great female charakter. And Delenn, aside of Lyta or Susan Ivanova from B5 and Xena from her own series, Janeway from Star Trek, Eliza Mazza from The Gargoyles or Sarah Connor from Terminator, not to forget Ripley from ALIEN already were great and strong females and all this back almost 30 years ago. RIP Mira Furlan
When people say there are no great female role models I often wonder what they have been watching the last 50 years. Well written female characters have been a staple of all genres across TV and Movies since forever. From Wilma Deering in Buck rogers, to Blakes 7, to Doctor Who, To Charlies Angels, to all those great movies we watch again and again. Women have had great roles throughout history and B5 is just one in a long line of shows with strong, flawed, exciting, interesting women.
@@adelucas4824 You kinda undercut your argument when you include Wilma Deering. She was strong for perhaps 3-4 episodes before devolving into arm candy for Buck. (plus the theatrical version of the opening credits really make it hard to regard her as a great female role model)
Michael, I know right! Depending on peoples age, scifi and many genres have had true strong female characters going back AT LEAST to the 70s. Today's "strong female" on screen characters are steps backwards. They were just female characters in good stories as it should be, no focus on they are women and bull shit agendas, like today.
I am a HUGE B5 fan and this is one of those scenes that give me pause for concern with the proposed reboot. That line, that actress, that is one of those rare moments of perfect symmetry, like catching lightning in a bottle, that will never be able to be redone. It would be like someone trying to re-create Picasso's Guernica with pencil crayons and papier macher.
l can accept a reboot one one condition - It is done to the same high standards as the original, it is an homage to the show, it is done from love - not profit but most of all it DOESN'T BUTCHER OUR LORE.
That's why I will NOT watch a reboot.You can't get that in a reboot.The original was badass from Delenn's love affair with John Sheridan to the tragedy of London Mollari .It was done too well.
Every time I watch this scene on here (or the episode on DVD) I always smile when Delenn arrives. Especially the way she says "why not?" Calmly, but with fire in her eyes and steel in her voice.
She was definitely one of my favorite characters in the entirety of science fiction. Explore in the places beyond The rim where no shadows Fall. It hurts to know she's gone. Rest easy Delen
Just that moment when things go from we're screwed, to here comes the cavalry is absolutely masterful, it's a glorious sight when when the jump-points open up around B5 and the Minbari battleships come charging out, it's also a spine-chilling moment when the fourth jump-point turns out to be the White-Star and I love the way the camera immediately switches to an internal view of the White-Star with Delenn in command and the camera immediately moves in on her face, it's so perfectly done because you can see the protective rage/fire in her eyes as she and her forces charge toward the enemy ships at breakneck speed, when she begins to speak, you can hear the steel in her voice as she's in full mama-bear mode, totally focused on protecting everyone on the station that she considers not only her home, but the home of her family and close friends, and there is no way in hell she's gonna let anything happen to them. when she says be somewhere else, she almost has an angry snarl on her face which gives her line so much more power and impact. love this scene from back in the day, and I still do now. RIP Mira, only got to meet you once back in the 90's but I was so glad I did, she made a huge impression on me and she is sorely missed. enjoy your eternal rest Entil-Zha sleeping in light, where no shadows may fall..
"Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else." The ultimate F U !
I like how there is no delay between when Delenn says “else” and the ships turn around. There was obviously no conversation between the navigation officers and the captains. They probably already had their fingers on the reverse button when they saw her picture and once she had finished speaking they thought: “sod this”.
The stories wer awsome. I really also likes how you could think logicly about the story lines like the time travel parts and how everything fits together.. I think that is soemthing that is missing with some of these shows were things sometimes just don't match. Or even not have really good explanations for why there is some reason for a change.
Especially disappointing considering how mediocre it was, overall. Hammy acting (until some parts of later seasons). Terrible special effects (but that's not actually that important as long as things get across properly). Decent set design and costumes actually. Decent dialogue when it counts, but some really facepalming bits, too. And I'm all for sci-fi, but the concept of "suspension of disbelief" isn't supposed to be that one accepts stupid bullshit because it's part of the story. It's a special literary tool meant to smooth over minor and narratively irrelevant inconsistencies. It's a delicate, precise tool for that purpose alone. It's not a fucking cudgel for smashing a giant slopply macguffin into a gaping and misshapen plot hole...as it has always been used in all of literary history. Compelling as it might've seemed, the entirety of the conflict between the Vorlons and the Shadows, and just the existence of the "First Ones" at all, was so utterly stupid on its face that I can still only give B5 maybe 6/10. It was also one of my main problems with the Stargate franchise, and Star Trek, and Star Wars... The only thing that really saved B5 for me, was the final development of G'kar and Londo as characters. That's what kept me into it all. G'kar's frustration in trying to educate his own people away from their common superstitions...is a frustration I feel all too relatable. Granted, he was still wrong about a ton of stuff, but he had the right intent, and a decent enough path.
Goddamn, I miss Mira Furlan, She was such a badass, on and off screen. Her experience with her home country's government was a helluva thing, and there's no doubt in my mind that it really colored her portrayal of Delen.
Captain Drake: "Ah, Mr. President we can't capture Babylon 5". President Clarke:"Why not!?! It's not like anyone of value would join them! Captain Drake: "Well..... someone did." President Clarke: " The Centauri? They're too busy elsewhere!" Captain Drake: "Ummm.... not them." President Clarke:"....... I'M WAITING!!" Captain Drake: "The Minbari."
For my money the most badass moment in Babylon 5, it eclipses Ivanova's Death speech and Sheridans 'We have come home' and 'Get out of our galaxy' speeches for sheer, unadulterated sass. Mira Furlan was an absolute gem
"why not?" I like Star Trek, but my benchmark for truly epic sci-fi will always be Babylon 5, if only for scenes like this one. And since that scene, I've been wondering why the Minbari actually need a warrior caste?
The ignorance of that captain. His statement clearly showed that he was a relative newcomer and didn't fight in the Earth-Minbari War or he would have been more cautious with his words.
In the B5 lore, Clark replaced many Earth Force captains with loyalists, especially on the Omega class destroyers as they were the most powerful EF fleet assets. This is why later, you see the Hyperion class destroyers as the main "rebel" ships at the start of the mutiny / civil war. This is also why the captain was so clueless, they had never really faced the Mimbari and were taught things "would have been different" if Earth had had the Omegas during the war.
I’ve always assumed that the reason we don’t hear his reply has something to do with the fastest and most complete mutiny of all time complete with all off-duty crew running full speed to port to help the ship turn faster….
every few months the algorithm disgorges this masterpiece to my recommendations and its like christmas. I dimly recall dancing round the room like a triumphant gremlin when it aired on the TV 6 billion years ago.
